Mysuru: Jnanpith awardee and novelist, poet and writer Chandrashekhara Kambar observed that ‘Vamsha Vriksha’ by SL Bhyrappa and ‘Samskara’ of UR Ananthamurthy changed the course of Kannada literature. "Vamsha Vriksha is like the Upanishads. It’s an extraordinary novel," he said.After inaugurating the Bhyrappa Sahityotsava here on Saturday, he said Bhyrappa expanded Kannada readers’ horizon and made Kannada literature popular in all Indian and many foreign languages. "Vamsha Vriksha is a trendsetter for many reasons. I wrote the title song of the movie and am blessed to be associated with it,” he said."I have great respect for him. I don't want to share details of how he helped me personally," he added.Kambar said: “Bhyrappa expanded the scope of storytelling. He is concerned about Kannada. When the state government announced converting 1,000 Kannada-medium schools into English medium, he was the first to raise his voice.”Chief guest Shatavadhani Ganesh said there is a need to change our approach towards modern ideologies. "Many modern thoughts are being followed in our country for centuries but under different names. Bhyrappa introduced several new techniques and advocated strong values through his characters," he said.Former chairman of the Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradhikara Pradhan Gurudutt said Bhyrappa's books have not been translated much into Malayalam because of a few who don't want him to become popular. "At a literary event in Kolkata, a participant from Karnataka didn't mention Bhyrappa while mentioning great writers. A few members of the audience questioned him for this,” he said.Award-winning director P Sheshadri said directing movies based on Bhyrappa's writing is not easy. "He doesn’t give permission easily," he said.He recalled that a famous Kannada actor wanted to produce a film based on his novel ‘Nirakarana’. When Bhyrappa declined, the actor met Bhyrappa at a hotel and offered him a blank cheque. But Bhyrappa didn't relent.Fan following* Around 800 Bhyrappa fans from all over South India attended the event. Several foreigners were at the question-answer session* Bhyrappa released the teaser of P Sheshadri's new movie ‘Mukajjiya Kanasugalu’ based on late Shivarama Karanth's novel

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